Hundreds of flights canceled in Germany as airports hit by strikes

FRANKFURT: Thousands of passengers were left stranded at German airports on Tuesday as ground staff and other public sector workers staged walkouts across the country to increase the pressure in a pay dispute.
Lufthansa had said that it was canceling more than 800 of its planned 1,600 flights on Tuesday and Frankfurt airport operator Fraport had warned of disruption.
As well as Frankfurt, Germany’s busiest hub for airlines, airports in Munich, Cologne and Bremen were hit. The industrial action also affected nurseries, rubbish collection services and swimming pools in several German states.
German union Verdi wants a 6 percent pay rise for its 2.3 million public sector employees at the federal and local level. Germany’s federal government and municipalities have rejected that, saying such a rise would force them to outsource jobs.
Some passengers expressed frustration over the delays.
“I’m upset. I’m affected by these strikes too often,” said Roswitha Karl, who was at Frankfurt airport waiting to board a flight to Moldova for a holiday.
“First, there was the pilots’ strike, then the ground staff and then the security staff, it’s a matter of luck,” said Karl.
Airline rebooking counters had a long queue of passengers, while other stranded travelers were waiting in the terminal. While some frantically tried to change their reservations, others took the delays in their stride.
Jana Glaeser had arrived in Frankfurt from Miami and her flight to Berlin was canceled. “Now we’re getting a train ticket instead. Hopefully everything works out,” she said.
In western North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany’s most populous state, local transport, public utilities and childcare centers were hit. There were long tailbacks on motorways, and in southern Baden-Wuerttemberg buses and local trains stayed in depots.
“We want to send a clear signal to employers with these massive strikes,” said Frank Bsirske, head of Verdi, Germany’s biggest labor union for service sector employees.
He said the union would escalate the dispute if employers did not present an offer next week. The third round of talks starts on April 15.
Germany, Europe’s biggest economy, is in robust shape, with record tax revenues and a budget surplus. Rising employment, inflation-busting pay rises and low borrowing costs are fueling a consumer-led upswing.
“If not now, when can we have significant increases for all workers, also in the public sector?” said Bsirske.
In the industrial sector, 3.9 million workers agreed on a pay and flexible working hours deal in February that amounted to a roughly 4 percent rise per year for 2018 and 2019. Inflation edged up to 1.5 percent in March.
The European Central Bank is keeping a close eye on the German wage negotiations for any sign that wage growth is picking up, potentially lifting inflation and allowing the ECB to start winding down its massive stimulus program.
Neighboring France has also faced industrial action in the last few weeks in protests against President Emmanuel Macron’s planned reforms.

US trade negotiators to visit China for fresh round of talks

Washington and Beijing are battling over the final shape of a trade deal

American officials are demanding profound changes to Chinese industrial policy

Updated 21 March 2019

AFP

March 21, 2019 07:46

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BEIJING: US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin will visit China on March 28-29 for a fresh round of talks aimed at resolving the bruising trade war, the Chinese commerce ministry said Thursday.
After their visit, Chinese Vice Premier Liu He will head to the United States in April to continue the negotiations, ministry spokesman Gao Feng said at a press briefing.
Washington and Beijing are battling over the final shape of a trade deal, with American officials demanding profound changes to Chinese industrial policy.
President Donald Trump warned Wednesday that US tariffs on Chinese imports could remain in place for a “substantial period,” dampening hopes that an agreement would see them lifted soon.
Over the last eight months, the United States and China have slapped tariffs on more than $360 billion in two-way goods trade, weighing on the manufacturing sectors in both countries.
On Friday, China’s rubber-stamp parliament approved a foreign investment law to strengthen protections for intellectual property — a central US grievance — but critics said the bill was rammed through without sufficient time for input from businesses.